After seeing quite a few dual display smartphones, today we are treated to a new patent, that reveals a triple display handset of the sort. Obviously, it’s a foldable machine, that comes from LG and switches from smartphone to tablet and viceversa.
LG applied for this patent back at the end of 2014 at WIPO and is only now getting the approval for it. We see different formats of the device in the sketches, including one with a main panel that has a Home button and two other screens flanking it, anchored with hinges. There’s also a dual display model, with the two screen parts going around the frame in a curved manner, like a single panel.
And then there’s a vertical version, that opens up like a videogame’s manual or some sort of city map. This one has even smaller hinges and bezels and it’s very slim. The patent also shows the ability to view multiple images on the 3 panels of the foldable phone. This smartphone clearly becomes more than just a phone, rather a tablet. As I usually say, too many hinges means more ways that a device could break or get damaged.
Also, LG Display is working closely with Apple on foldable phones, so I doubt LG would risk too much with a series of its own phones, rather than bank on Apple’s success. Over the past year we’ve seen more and more foldable device patents, from the likes of Microsoft and Samsung.
